5 Reasons To Love Again

Chapter 27

Chase took his time kissing me. His arm tightened around my waist and his hand tilted my head a little more to the side so that he could deepen our kiss. I forgot how to breath for a few seconds there. Little girl giggles made me aware that we were in public and I pulled away slightly.
"PDA not your thing?" Chase asked me.
"No, it's not that. Lexine just seems to find kissing very funny. It makes her giggle each time I get kissed."
We looked down at her and she was still giggling away. Now that she had our full attention, she waved the books at us with a questioning look on her face.
"Yes, mommy will buy them for you." I said to her. Turning to Chase I said, "Books are one thing that I never say no to."
"That's a good thing. Books are important but I will be buying the books, not you." he said with a smile to me. "This is my day to spoil you two."
He ushered us to the front of the store and paid for the books. After we were in the car, he turned to me and said, "Let's go to a fun place and then I will take you guys to lunch!"
He wouldn't tell us where we were going but as far as I could tell, we were headed to Charleston. About half an hour later we pulled into a big parking lot. We were at an aquarium!
Lexine was excited and was bouncing up and down while we waited in line to get our tickets. I felt like bouncing up and down too. I hadn't been to an aquarium since I was a kid! Chase grinned at me, "So this was a good choice huh?"
"Yes! Who doesn't love the aquarium? I haven't been to one in years and Lexine's never been to one."
"We are going to have lots of fun then!" Chase reached out and put his arm around my shoulders. I smiled up at him admiring his looks. He might not look as built as some of his brothers but I could feel the lean muscles and strength in his arms. His strawberry blonde hair was cut medium short and styled in that messy bed head look that guys can pull off. His green eyes didn't miss a thing.
"Are you checking me out Delphine?
"Sorry, I didn't mean to stare." I blushed and looked down.
He tilted my chin back up and I raised my eyes to meet his. "There is no need to apologize. I was just teasing you. You can stare at me all you want. It will be good for my ego." He grinned at me and leaned down to whisper in my ear. "As a doctor I can understand admiring the human form. You can keep looking at mine just as long as I get to look at you."
I think that my heart actually skipped a beat! These men really knew how to get to me. My hand must have squeezed Lexine's a little too hard and she tried to tug her hand away.
"Sorry Lexine." I smiled at her and she held up her arms. I had to laugh because they were held up to Chase and not me.
A few minutes later it was our turn to pay and go inside. Chase opened the door for us and I walked in. I turned to look back at Chase and I caught him looking at my rear end. He smiled and winked at me. At that moment I wanted to kiss him until I couldn't remember my own name. I think that he knew it too, because his grin became even wider. I turned my head back around and tried to get a hold of my out of control hormones.
We started out to walk towards the right. Lexine walked in between us holding our hands. We admired the many species of marine life. Lexine was fascinated with the jellyfish. She tugged me down to whisper a question to me.
"Do Jellyfish really make jelly?" I had to smother a huge laugh. She would get her feelings hurt if I did laugh out loud. I repeated the question quietly to Chase and he was fighting to keep a straight face as well.
"The world has a lot to thank Spongebob for! To answer your question Lexine, no they don't really make jelly but they look like they are made out of it. That's a smart question. After all, honey bees make honey don't they?"
She nodded and seemed pleased by his answer. Moving on to the next exhibit, Chase raised a hand in greeting to a tall man with olive skin and longish black hair and glasses.
"Hello Axel! How's it going?"
Axel came over to shake Chase's hand. "Hi Chase. I wasn't expecting to see you here today. Academy business?"
"Uh, no...." Chase cleared his throat and looked over to my and my daughter meaningfully. "I'm here on a date with two lovely birds." He put a hand on my shoulder and told Axel, "This is Delphine." He then picked up my girl, "This is her daughter Lexine."
Axel held out his hand and I reached out to shake it but he lifted my hand instead to kiss the back of it. "Beautiful names for beautiful ladies." He nodded to Lexine but made no move to touch her. That saved me from an explanation.
"How would the three of you like to see an exhibit that is going to open soon?" All of us agreed and Axel led the way. Chase continued to hold Lexine and put one arm around me. Axel noticed and smiled. We reached a curtained off area and Axel flashed his badge to security that was guarding it and he let us through.
"It's called Shark Shallows. You can reach out into the water and touch starfish, stingrays and small sharks. We are hoping that it will be a huge hit and bring more people in."
I couldn't help but marvel at the exhibit. It was really wonderful. I helped Lexine touch the starfish and a stingray while the men stood off to the side and chatted.

Chase's POV
I wasn't too surprised to see Axel here. After all, he did have an office here. His team was another one with a single bird. I felt a little kinship with him now that we had Delphine and were attempting to make this work. We watched as Delphine played with her daughter, touching the marine life. I was happy that I got to kiss her earlier. Her lips were so soft and sweet. I was going to make sure to kiss her again before the day was over.

"Is she dating just you or the whole team?" Axel asked me.

"The whole team. Preston spoke with her about it and she was surprisingly open to giving it a try. You know that the
Anderson team is legendary in the Academy for making this work. We had been intrigued by it especially after seeing Blackbourne's team and yours become so successful. I didn't think that we would ever find anyone like her."

"Well, it's not for everyone but when it works, it really is great. Kali has brought our team closer than ever. We made our mistakes but got through them. How is the daughter fitting into all of this?"

"Believe it or not, the whole team is crazy about her. She has issues with talking but she seems to trust us so far. All of us are willing to be her dad. It's been less than a week but the two of them fit right in and we are becoming the family that we have always wanted."

"Delphine is pretty and her daughter Lexine is going to be a beauty. Is there any competition for their attention from anybody else?"

"Thankfully no! She's a widow and I think that's she's had a pretty tough life. She doesn't seem to notice other men. Just our team."

"How is Preston dealing with her? I would think that he would have the hardest time connecting with her. Especially with his British aloofness."

I couldn't help but laugh at that. "You need to ask Preston some time about his first meeting with her. He isn't having a problem connecting with Delphine at all."

Axel looked amused. "Well, I'm definitely going to ask him the next time I see him. Oh, and a tip for you guys... Don't wait too long to explain the Academy to her."

"OK, I'll talk to my team at our next meeting."
I saw Delphine looking at me so I smiled and moved toward her.